Say SagTown Jumped Gun

It is not just the ground coffee beans that are in hot water at SagTown Coffee. The business, which reopened nearly two weeks ago following the fire that destroyed the coffee shop in December, has been cited for violating Sag Harbor Village code.

Thomas Preiato, the village building inspector, said this week that Shane Dyckman, the business owner, had illegally taken down a wall between the original SagTown Coffee space at 78 Main Street and what used to be Collette Consignment, on the Main Street side of the building. Collette’s, owned by Mr. Dyckman’s former wife, was also ravaged in the fire. Mr. Dyckman’s store is a tenant; the building is owned by Sag Harbor Venture LLC.

Mr. Preiato issued a summons for two violations: lacking site plan approval and violating the certificate of occupancy. “The ink on my C.O. didn’t dry before the wall came down!” he said in an email.

The C. of O. was issued on Aug. 3, when the wall still stood. Two days later SagTown Coffee reopened, with Mr. Dyckman saying it had doubled the space and increased the offerings.  Mr. Dyckman has been before the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board in the months since the fire. He received approval for a change of use to convert the former Collette’s space from retail clothing to the sale of coffee-related merchandise, according to Mr. Preiato, and has a pending application, submitted two months ago, to combine the two stores.

Mr. Preiato said he has been trying to assist the merchants affected by the fire so they can reopen quickly, but that code requires that combining two stores be properly vetted by the planning board.

Mr. Dyckman faces up to $1,000 in fines for each of the violations if found guilty. His attorney, Brian Desesa, declined comment.